Sorry that it's taken me nearly a week to get from Step One to Step Two. See, in between I had this little mediation with Tuna and a singing gig in New Orleans. So I didn't want to post something half-finished or something that I hadn't finished editing. So now it's time to continue my series on what's next for the Hippodrome and the Arts in Waco. Step One was to define the end goal...

Step Two is to organize. In Step One we talked about a vision for the Arts that brought all of the various Performing Arts organizations in Waco together to be at home in a renovated Hippodrome. They would have access to perform and rehearse there free of charge. So before we can begin structuring this arrangement, we need to organize. The organization will come in three steps: engaging the community, engaging the Arts organizations, and assimilating the feedback into a combined mission.

The first thing to be done is to engage the community. The public nature of the Waco Performing Arts Company's recent problems has made it so that everyone in town has an opinion about what has been done and what should be done. My only problem with that is that it came so late! I loved receiving feedback about operations, programming, the facility, and everything else while I was Executive Director. There are many people there who can tell you that the WPAC is actually very good at responding to people with good ideas. In fact, many of the people who came forward to offer advice or feedback are now sitting on the Board of Directors. I wish that the people who have been so free with their opinions about the WPAC on the news and in the comment sections of the various news websites had stepped up to offer their criticism and feedback months ago. Rather than get caught up in what might have been however, I always look to the future. And that's what everyone needs to do now.

The WPAC needs to have a series of public forums where everyone who is interested can offer their opinion about anything to do with the organization or the Hippodrome Theatre. I think three should be enough to make sure that everyone who wants to can attend at least one. They should be held in the Hippodrome since the facility is likely to be a major topic of discussion. I know that it is popular to do something akin to a "listening tour" with efforts like this, but I think a different tactic is in order. I think there needs to be an educational component to these forums as well as taking feedback. For example, I don't think it does anyone any good to allow a comment such as, "You guys should bring in Robert Earl Keen," without challenging it. As long as people think that such an idea is financially viable, such faulty thinking will dominate the conversation. The forums need to lead to a productive place. When people ask a question about why there are so few womens' restrooms, they should get an answer! When people ask why the ceiling is falling apart, they should get an answer to that too. And when they ask a question for which there is no answer, or make a point that hadn't been before considered, the WPAC will be there to take notes and investigate changes in the future. The true spectrum of opinions and insights must be heard and accounted for.

The second part of this step is meeting with the various Arts organizations. They need to be brought to a single table to discuss this plan. They need to have the future possibilities laid out for them. They are sure to have many questions, and to the best of the WPAC's ability those will be answered. But more important is hearing their concerns and their needs. As fond as I am of this plan and idea, it is sure to have a ton of blind spots and deficiencies. The only way to begin to work those out is to hear from all of the groups. They will all have different needs in order to perform their best. Those are the items that the WPAC needs to take note of. Some organizations will place a higher value on rehearsal space, others need office space, others need ticketing help, and others need technical assistance more than anything else. All of those items are going to have to be accounted for before a comprehensive proposal can actually be made to them for formal consideration.

The third part then is to take all of the information gained above and synthesize it into a formal proposal that can be made to the Arts organizations. Right now the basics of the proposal are in place, but it needs to be something that can bring them all on board. This will likely include considerations about terms of the space usage, the renovations to come, the scheduling process, the calendar, staff, technical availability, and more. I'll be outlining the current content of my proposal for the agreement later, but it should be understood that my work is a starting point for the proposal rather than a finished product.

After a final proposal is drafted for the Arts organizations, they should be brought back together to review it. If further amendment is necessary, it can be made, but the ultimate goal of this process is to finally have a plan that everyone can tentatively adopt. What this means is that all of the various Arts organizations that I've mentioned, (and probably a few that I've either forgot or was unaware of), need to be prepared to sign a non-binding letter of intent to enter into a relationship with the WPAC to make the Hippodrome their home. This obviously contains stipulations that include the completion of renovations and other necessities that arose during the aforementioned meeting. But it will be necessary to have everyone signed on for the development plan before taking it to the next step.

It is of the utmost importance that everyone listen to each other in this Step. Too often we have a tendency to hear gossip or secondhand information and use it as the basis for forming a rather strong opinion. Too often we decide that we already have all of the useful information that we need rather than considering the thoughts and opinions of those outside our circle. But, too often we also approach the table with an empty hand and too blank of a slate. There's no reason to not bring all of the best ideas that we have to bear and test them against the input and opinion of everyone whom we hope to serve in the future. This process has to begin with dialogue if it to successfully end with a plan that the community feels they can get behind.

So that's Step Two. We have to organize. We begin by listening to each other and swapping information and ideas. We use that information to formulate a plan that works for us all based on the vision we have for the future of the Arts in Waco. After we achieve that kind of unity we can move on to the next steps. But, for maybe the first time in Waco's history, its Arts groups have to get on the same page and subscribe to a plan that puts them all on the same team.